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Everyday Ordinary

everyday ordinary

What’s your everyday ordinary?

Hanging the washing out…

The dishes left over from last nights dinner…

Walking to the post office for your day job…

Folding the jocks and socks…

Making breakfast…

Every day.

Ordinary.

Those moments when no one else sees you.

When you are by yourself.

When your thoughts overtake the moment.

Those moments of unconscious streams of words, accusations, ideas, worries, anxieties…

Moments of seemingly nothingness, that you won’t remember tomorrow.

Who are you in those moments?

What bombards you?

What overwhelms you?

What defines you?

These are the moments that are your catalogue of thoughts that design the big moments.

We don’t pay much attention to these moments, but it is your everyday ordinary that make up the substance of your life.

It is not the big days, the day you were married, the day you were divorced, the day you gave birth, the day you lost your job.

Those moments do not define your future.

They may change your direction, but they do not colour in between the lines.

It is your EVERYDAY, ORDINARY

that builds your life.

Every single day

Every ordinary one

Can be made extraordinary if we consciously change the tone of our thoughts, actions and words.

Everyday.

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

(I am speaking about this topic tonight at Riverview with all their creative teams, I can’t wait.)

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Culture of Scarcity

Scarcity one

scarcity 2

Recently I read a quote in Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly and it stopped me in my tracks.

“For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didnt get enough sleep.” The next one is “I don’t have enough time.” Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don’t have enough of… Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something. And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds are racing with a litany of what we didn’t get, or didn’t get done, that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to that reverie of lack… This internal condition of scarcity, this mind-set of scarcity, lives at the very heart of our jealousies, our greed, our prejudice, and our arguments with life”

Lynne Twist

I realise as a Mum of a toddler, as a creative inspiration addict, I live in a constant state of needing and wanting more.

How can we constantly create more, when we believe that we don’t have enough?

Being 28 weeks pregnant I could wear this T-shirt with my PJ pants and Ugg boots all day long and be a happy little camper.

 

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The question I have been contemplating though, is when will enough be enough?

When will I have enough sleep?

When will I have enough time?

When will I have a big enough house?

As I contemplate those who are thriving around me, they are the ones who are content with their enough today and are enjoying the moments presented to them.

How do we dream with courage, but be satisfied with the beauty in our today?

As Lynne explains in the quote above we need to question our motives and our complaints. It is easy to say I am so tired, when we have actually had a decent amount of sleep.

It is easy to say ‘I don’t have anything to wear.’, when we have a whole cupboard full of clothes.

It is easy to say ‘I am bored!’, when we are one radical thought away from changing the world.

It is easy to say ‘I am alone, I have no friends.’, when you could take that courageous act and just ring someone for a chat.

We live in a culture of scarcity, that is constantly scrambling to keep up with the neighbours, keep up with our thoughts, keep up with our expectations.

Today I am going to revel in my now and be satisfied with the health of my family and the amazing provisions that I have been given.

I am truly blessed.

I have a healthy family, a loving environment, a safe house, food in my fridge and encouragement on my heart.

Today I have more than enough.

How about you?

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

 

 

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my inspiration catalogue

max and books

Most days I am sure this is what my brain looks like.

I don’t have a slick cataloguing system for my writing.

I don’t have journals that are neatly lined up with words and quotes to boot.

My brain is a sponge that is constantly picking up little bits and pieces like a wall of post it notes that are each competing for space.

What I do collect though is memories?

My brain is like a massive Pinterest board that is constantly soaking up moments, memories and opportunities to be inspired.

My eyes are ever seeking, ever open, an inspiration junkie looking for its next inspiration fix.

This is how I design.

This is how I write.

This is how I produce.

This is why my instagram feed will never be slick and predictable.

This is why my style, my brand and my voice is ever changing.

I am unique and today I am brave in my expression of it.

I am organised in a very disorganised way.

I am driven in a very random way.

I am colourful with my moments of grey

I am unpredictable and expressive.

I am becoming okay with my mis-matching clothes and messy hair.

I am not seeking to be cool or hip or wanted.

I am not seeking to be noticed or popular or followed.

I am seeking truth.

I am seeking God.

I am seeking that which is often difficult to find.

Honesty, brilliance, care, friendship, creativity, innovation, deep spirited souls, imperfect offerings of courage.

An inspiration addict right here.

With my own little creative catalogue in my brain.

My first book Capture; 30 days of inspiration takes you through a 30 day guided journey of inspiration if you are looking for a kind of inspiration system.

For today, I am happy to sit in the middle of the floor surrounded by my crazy ideas and revel in creativity.

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

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golden little hearts

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I have a little colour crush on gold at the moment.

Anything I buy (which honestly is not that much), start again anything I make, I want to add a little gold.

I went through an anti gold phase a few years ago, where I gave away all my gold jewellery. (I know! what was I thinking?)

Anyways, today I have been dreaming of stitching little gold hearts onto outfits for my little miss v, who is due in just a few short months.

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As I  sit here thinking about frosting all things golden, I have been reflecting about my main man Maximus.

His personality is so light and happy, so joyful and loving.

If you have followed me for a while you would have seen my baby spam and picked up a little bit of his personality.

This morning we went to dancing which is our usual Friday outing and he did not want to leave my side. He has been so clingy and over and over he has been saying ‘Mummy you okay? Mummy you okay?’.

The truth is I haven’t been okay.

I have been in extreme pain and even just the little things, like pouring him a bath and getting him dressed have been difficult.

If I lean one way or another, I have excruciating pain flooding through my back.

I don’t like talking or writing about it that much, because I know how many people are in so much more pain than me.

I have become so aware of people who are in pain over the last week or so, since I have struggled to walk and doing little everyday menial tasks.

Pain and discomfort, the human condition is so cloudy.

It can cloud over joy, it can cloud over perspective, it can cloud over our responses to people, it can make us a little short and unbecoming.

Back to my little Maximus.

my little golden heart

His nickname has been Maximus the Brave. Ever since he was born he has been a very social, very happy little lion.

Over the last week though, I have seen that my weakness has cause vulnerability in him and it has shown me no matter the personality of our little people they feel.

They are impacted by culture, they are impacted by ambience, they are impacted by pain.

Does that mean I should withhold what I am feeling to protect him?

Yes sometimes, other times no.

Does that mean I need to pretend everything is okay all the time when it is not?

Absolutely not, as much as I try to protect him, he still picks up what is happening in his everyday environment.

What I am learning though is how golden and precious his little heart is. He has always been strongly compassionate, he notices people, he feels with people and this is not a weakness that I need to man him up. I need to nurture and develop that heart for others and validate what is happening in this season for him.

His feelings are important and acknowledging how he is coping in the midst of these changes for our family is just as valid as mine.

Often as he is crying we say over and over ‘Use your words, use your words.’ I think it is imperative that I teach him now, as he is starting to communicate, what he is feeling and why? A little man child, who has the capacity to express the longings of his heart.

Our family is wonderful but I grew up hearing over and over from my Uncles, children should be seen and not heard. I completely disagree.

Are you listening to the heart beat and the changes in your families lives?

How can we bring validation and life to little people as well?

Maybe this is why I have been drawn to meditation and calm practise in this season. A simple and soft response instead of a harsh, hurried reply.

Being slow to speak and staying quiet until I am able to speak with life.

Letting go of the crazy expectations we place on one another and believing the best.

Holding precious moments today in our hands as a gift.

He has a golden little heart and in a few short months, he will not be my only focus anymore with a sister on her way.

He has a precious luminous soul, that is impacted by my attitudes, my words and the atmosphere I create in our home.

He has a tenderness that is not weak, it is ethereal and I need to stop sometimes and listen to hear what he is saying without words.

Just recently only on mornings when my husband is not home, he slips into our bed and whispers. Jesus, Jesus and points to the side of our room. One morning he exclaimed ‘Hello, Jesus. How are you?’.

He knows.

Golden little people.

Maybe society wouldn’t be as broken as it is today, if we held each others hearts with as much care and tenderness as the possessions that obsess us.

Golden little souls.

Full of compassion, grace and love, that are wanting to be noticed.

Golden little hearts.

Lets handle them with care.

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mindful in may

the quieter you become

If you are a regular around here, you would know I am not often short of something to say.

Today is the first of May and my goal is to meditate for at least 5 mins a day for the whole month ‘Mindful in May’.

I tried meditating with my husband a couple of nights ago and he fell asleep in the first 5 mins, snoring and all.

(Secretly I had a massive smile and it made my night.)

One of my main pursuits in this goal, is to become a more calm parent and therefore leader, friend, wife, daughter…the list goes on.

I want to be slower in my responses, I want to take time to truly hear, I want to be ready to have two children running around me in the next few months…

A friend sent me a prayer and a blessing months ago and this morning as I was emptying out my inbox (at the start of my May mind detox), I found it and I stopped and meditated upon the words.

Prayer

‘Providing God, I easily doubt that you’ll provide whatever I need for body and soul, and I can’t imagine how the adversity you send my way could be turned to good. Help me let go of my need to control and instead entrust my life and future to your care. Keep me fully aware that you have the power to provide because you are almighty God, and the heart to do so because you are my faithful Father.’

Blessing

show me your ways

My intention this May is to slow my mind, fill it with good and gracious thoughts and to bring life into any conversation that I am a part of.

Creatively, I know when I am emptied of myself, there is so much more room for the new to arise.

When I am thinking less about myself and more about others, I am enabled to see new and wondrous things.

When I am calm and I respond rather than react to situations, my family and friends are empowered to feel safe and trust me.

Day one.

Mindful in May.

Join me.

Speak tomorrow

Amanda